Volvo Safety Award creates safer quarries in Malaysia

Mining and quarrying are potentially dangerous working environments and safety should always be an integrated part of the daily work schedule. Unfortunately this is not always the case. Many quarry workers are injured – or even killed – in work-related accidents every year. Volvo CE – global manufacturer of construction equipment for the quarrying industry around the world – is dedicated to improving the safety of its users by promoting best practices.

This year, Volvo CE in Malaysia has launched the country’s first-ever safety awards program – the Volvo Safety Award – to recognize companies in the Malaysian quarrying industry that have made a strong contribution towards improving the safety of their employees and work practices.

“Each accident is a tragedy and it is extremely frustrating to know that these accidents could be prevented with a more structured workplace and a different mind-set,” says Brandon Ross, business director at Volvo CE in Malaysia. Ross wanted to utilize Volvo CE´s strong safety reputation in order to increase safety awareness within Malaysia.

The inaugural Volvo Safety Award ceremony took place during the MQA’s annual dinner in Kuala Lumpur with more than 400 guests, including customers, operators, quarry owners and other industry representatives as well as the Malaysian Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Dr James Dawos Mamit.

A winning innovationWinner of the first prize at the 2014 Volvo Safety Awards was Lafarge Aggregates, a company that has demonstrated how a remote greasing functionality on its crushers, mixers and conveyers has helped to eliminate dangerous elements in daily operations.

In addition to receiving an elegant silver plaque and a firm handshake from the Deputy Minister, Lafarge Aggregates’ quarry manager, Srinivasan Kathiresan, was also invited to Sweden to visit Volvo CE´s facilities and to find out more about how Volvo CE works with safety issues.

“We have received a lot of positive feedback from this initiative and we look forward to working with the MQA on this awards program in the coming years as it clearly highlights safety as an integral part of a quarry’s operations,” explains Ross.